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Aldergrove man sentenced to life for killings of two sex trade workers

Davey Butorac will be eligible for parole in less than 18 years after admitting to killing Sheryl Lynn Koroll and Gwendolyn Lawton
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Aldergrove's Davey Butorac has admitted to and apologized for killing Langley City sex trade worker Sheryl Lynn Korroll and Abbotsford prostitute Gwendolyn Lawton in 2007. He has been sentenced to life but will be eligible for parole in less than 18 years.

It has been almost nine years, but Aldergrove resident Davey Butorac has admitted to and apologized for killing Langley City sex trade worker Sheryl Lynn Koroll and Abbotsford prostitute Gwendolyn Lawton in 2007.

In Supreme Court in New Westminster on Dec. 4, Butorac, 36, expressed remorse for his actions, through his lawyer, before being sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 18 years. In joint submissions from Crown and his defense counsel, Butorac pleaded guilty to killing Lawton. The judge said he is to serve the two life sentences concurrently.

He is getting credit for time served since his arrest in 2008 on a one-to-one basis, and will be eligible for parole in less than 18 years.

"Mr. Butorac acknowledged, through his lawyer, having committed these offenses and he wants to obtain treatment to find out why he did what he did," said Crown counsel Wendy Dawson.

"His lawyer did say in respect to the Koroll murder, Mr. Butorac had extreme anger at the time."

No motive was ever revealed during his two trials by jury for killing Korroll.

In court, Crown chose to drop a charge of second degree murder of Aldergrove resident Margaret Redford.

Butorac was charged in 2010 with killing Redford, more than three years after her body was found in Bertrand Creek in Aldergrove.

Her family, including her father and daughter, pleaded for the killer to come forward but it wasn't until 2010 when DNA linked Butorac to the case, that he was charged with her murder.

The Times sought comment from the Redford family but has not received a response. Dawson said she has spoken to all three families.

Butorac's laywer indicated he won't appeal his sentences, as he did the first time he was convicted of the murders.

"He wants to move forward and get on with his life," said Dawson. Lack of motive is one of the aggravating factors Dawson spoke to in her submissions for sentencing. It has concerned the judge as well, she said.

There has never been a psychological assessment of Butorac presented in court.

His parents have written letters to the courts, saying he is a loving son, he has no criminal background and has never had any real employment.

An acquaintance of Butorac's testified that the pair would sometimes drive around and smoke pot.

This year, he posted his profile on a dating website set up to cater exclusively to Canadian inmates. He said he was looking for someone to share a life with.

Crown filed updated victim impact statements and the judge commented on the effect these murders have had on the families, said Dawson.

Butorac's lawyer filed letters of support from his family. His mother and sister have attended every time he has been in court.

In April, a B.C. Supreme Court jury found Butorac guilty of murdering Korroll. This was the second time Butorac had been convicted of the murder.

In 2010, a jury found Butorac guilty of the second-degree murder of Lawton, whose body was found March 2007 in Abbotsford.

He was also convicted at the same trial of second-degree murder in Koroll's death. A judge sentenced him to life in prison with a no chance of parole for 23 years.

Butorac appealed the convictions, and won new and separate trials.

Koroll was a small-framed woman who cared for her elderly parents. The court learned she had been addicted to heroin and crack cocaine for 20 years and had been a prostitute for a similar length of time.

Surveillance footage was seized by police at the concrete plant where Korroll's body was found. It showed the suspect's vehicle to be a light-coloured older Cavalier with a sunroof, roof rack and tire treads showed it had BF Goodrich tires.

Homicide investigators narrowed the possibility of that make, model and year of car, with a roof rack and sunroof, down to seven in B.C. All seven were examined.

Butorac’s was the last Cavalier to be examined.

The jury heard about DNA matching Korroll's found inside Butorac's car, in his trunk and on his only pair of Vans shoes.

Five blows to the head killed Koroll, according to evidence presented at his two trials.



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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